Updates and Newsletters: The main news stories from the major sources, selected, compiled, and occasionally commented on by Michael Novakhov ("Mike Nova") | Public RSS Feeds on the various topics of Global Security | Topics oriented news reviews

On Friday afternoon, the United States formally accused the Kremlin of hacking and releasing Democratic Party information to interfere with the U.S. election. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and the Department of Homeland Security released a statement declaring that “only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.” The New York Times reportsthat the administration had debated over whether to formally accuse Russia of the hacking for weeks, eventually deciding to act out of concern that an announcement any closer to Election Day would appear politically motivated. Anonymous officials indicated in July that they had “high confidence” of the Kremlin’s involvement in the hacking, and the ranking Democratic members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees recently released an open letter requesting that the White House acknowledge Russia’s role.

What happens now? The Times takes a look at the government’s options for responding to the Kremlin’s hacking. While a range of responses are available, from sanctions to a counter-cyberattack, it appears that the White House has not yet settled on a method to hold the Kremlin accountable.

In a further blow to the already worsening relationship between the U.S. and Russia, Secretary of State John Kerry called for an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad in attacking hospitals across Syria. The mechanics of such an investigation remain unclear, as Russia and China vetoed a 2014 U.N. Security Council resolution that would have allowed the International Criminal Court to examine investigate war crimes in Syria.

Kerry’s comments came only a day before the Security Council voted on a French resolution calling for a ceasefire in Aleppo and the grounding of warplanes above the city. On Saturday, Russia used its vote to veto the resolution—the fifth time that Russia has vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria since the civil war began, the Washington Post writes. The United States, France, and the United Kingdom also vetoed a Russian resolution that called for humanitarian aid but did not mention a ceasefire. The Wall Street Journal has more.

Doctors Without Borders released a statement on Monday pleading with the Syrian government to allow humanitarian access to Aleppo, the AP tells us. In the wake of the regime’s intentional targeting of hospitals and other medical facilities, only 35 doctors remain to serve an estimated 275,000 people trapped in the besieged rebel-held area of Aleppo.

The Post takes a look at the Obama administration’s Syria policy and concludes that the White House has yet to reach a consensus as to how to save Aleppo. U.S. intelligence officials believe that the city could fall to regime control in “a matter of weeks” due to the systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure.

In yesterday’s second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Republican nominee declared a split between himself and his running mate Mike Pence on Syria policy, saying that he rejected Pence’s proposal to use military force to strike regime targets in Syria if Russia and the regime do not cease their bombardment of Aleppo. Trump also suggested that Russia may not be responsible for the hacking recently attributed to the Kremlin, suggesting that “maybe there is no hacking”—though an intelligence official told NBC that the candidate had been informed of the Kremlin’s responsibility in his August security briefing.

An airstrike conducted by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen killed over 140 people attending a funeral on Sunday, the Post reports. The attack was one of the deadliest airstrikes yet in the war in Yemen and was “unequivocally condemned” by the United Nations, which called for an investigation into the strike. While the coalition has received U.S. military support in the form of training and refueling for the Saudi Air Force, the National Security Council announced that the United States will begin an “immediate review” of U.S. assistance to the coalition, saying that “U.S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check.”

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Riyadh expressed “deep regret” for the airstrike and announced that it would release the results of an internal investigation, though the Wall Street Journal notes that the Kingdom did not explicitly claim responsibility. The Times writes that the devastating strike may be a turning point for Yemen, again focusing international attention and opprobrium on a conflict that had long since faded from the global view.

Missiles from an area of Yemen held by Houthi rebels were fired at at a U.S. Navy destroyer on Sunday night, according to the Post. The ship was not hit. A Houthi commander denied having targeted any ships in the area and claimed that the reports were intended as a distraction from Sunday’s airstrike.

Two suicide bombers detonated themselves on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey on Saturday, though no one else was killed. The bombers killed themselves after refusing to surrender to the police, who believed that they were planning a suicide car bombing within the city. The AP reports that at least one of the bombers was likely linked to the PKK. On Sunday, a car bomb in southeast Turkey killed18 people in an attack that the Turkish government has also linked to the PKK.

The Post examines how the Turkish government’s continuing crackdown has targeted Kurds.Authorities have recently arrested Kurdish local leaders and closed down pro-Kurdish media outlets—perhaps a sign that the crackdown, which was originally aimed at targeting enemies of the current government following the July coup attempt, has expanded to attack other areas of Turkish society as well.

Turkey appears to be continuing its rapprochement with Russia, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the two countries queue up a series of trade and energy deals at a summit in Istanbul. Relations between the two countries have been frosty for over a year after Turkey shot down a Russian plane that it claimed had violated its airspace in November 2015, but have recently begun to warm again. Turkey is now seeking Russian support for the creation of a no-fly zone along the Turkish-Syrian border.

A Palestinian shooter killed two Israelis and wounded others in an attack in Jerusalem on Sunday, only to be killed himself by police, the Post writes. Hamas released a statement claiming that the shooter was a member of its organization and calling the attack “heroic.” Since October 2015, the region has struggled with a series of stabbings and similar attacks by Palestinians against Israelis.

14 people were killed by a suicide bombing in Lakshar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, which has been under siege by the Taliban in recent weeks. Afghan security forces indicated that the Taliban have yet to breach Lakshar Gah, though a Taliban spokesman stated that his organization was advancing on the city. The Post has more.

German police have arrested a Syrian national suspected to have been planning a bombing attack,the Times reports. Police had been searching for Jaber el-Bakr in a two-day manhunt before several Syrians in the area recognized el-Bakr from photos distributed by the police, tied him up, and called the authorities. El-Bakr had been under police surveillance for a month when security officialsstormed his apartment to find materials for a suicide vest and several pounds of the same explosives used by ISIS-affiliated terrorists in attacks in Brussels and Paris, precipitating the manhunt.

The French television network TV5 was nearly destroyed by a Russian cyberattack in April 2015, the BBC writes. The attack, which took the network entirely off the air for several hours, was initially claimed by an organization calling itself the Cyber Caliphate and claiming affiliation with ISIS. New evidence, however, suggests that the attack was carried out by a Russian group known as APT28, though investigators remain unsure why the network was targeted.

South Korea has lodged a formal complaint with China over an altercation off the Korean coast on Friday, in which a group of Chinese fishing boats rammed and sank a South Korean coast guard vessel.In recent years, numerous clashes have taken place as Chinese fishing boats enter into waters exclusively for South Korea’s economic use. The AP has more.

The Times looks back on the legacy of torture and enhanced interrogation in CIA prisons and at Guantanamo Bay, telling the stories of several men whose lives were shaped by their time in detention. The story examines the lasting mental health effects of torture long after the experience itself has passed.

ICYMI: This Weekend, on Lawfare

Quinta Jurecic posted the Lawfare Podcast, featuring an interview with Stephanie Leutert on violence in Mexico and Central America.

In the Foreign Policy Essay, Kristen A. Harkness argued that the West should focus on reforming African militaries in order to promote democracy on the continent.

Jack Goldsmith examined the United States’ options for cyber deterrence in the wake of accusing Russia of hacking the DNC.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us onTwitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues.Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.

The second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton took place at Washington University in St. Louis in a town-hall conversation moderated by Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper. Though the debate’s chief topic and subtext were arguably a recently-released candid tape in which Trump was recorded making lewd comments about women, the candidates did discuss some national security issues—including refugee policy, Russia, Syria, and (less typically) Trump’s promise to jail Hillary Clinton for her use of a classified email server if he is elected president.

The national security-relevant portions of the debate are included below. The full transcript is available here, courtesy of the New York Times.

Trump Promises to Investigate and Jail Clinton

TRUMP: And I’ll tell you what. I didn’t think I’d say this, but I’m going to say it, and I hate to say it. But if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it, and we’re going to have a special prosecutor.

When I speak, I go out and speak, the people of this country are furious. In my opinion, the people that have been long-term workers at the FBI are furious. There has never been anything like this, where e-mails—and you get a subpoena, you get a subpoena, and after getting the subpoena, you delete 33,000 e-mails, and then you acid wash them or bleach them, as you would say, very expensive process.

So we’re going to get a special prosecutor, and we’re going to look into it, because you know what? People have been—their lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you’ve done. And it’s a disgrace. And honestly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

[...]

CLINTON: Last time at the first debate, we had millions of people fact checking, so I expect we’ll have millions more fact checking, because, you know, it is—it’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.

TRUMP: Because you’d be in jail.

Islamophobia, the “Muslim Ban,” and “Extreme Vetting” for Refugees

QUESTION: Hi. There are 3.3 million Muslims in the United States, and I’m one of them. You’ve mentioned working with Muslim nations, but with Islamophobia on the rise, how will you help people like me deal with the consequences of being labeled as a threat to the country after the election is over?

RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, you’re first.

TRUMP: Well, you’re right about Islamophobia, and that’s a shame. But one thing we have to do is we have to make sure that — because there is a problem. I mean, whether we like it or not, and we could be very politically correct, but whether we like it or not, there is a problem. And we have to be sure that Muslims come in and report when they see something going on. When they see hatred going on, they have to report it.

As an example, in San Bernardino, many people saw the bombs all over the apartment of the two people that killed 14 and wounded many, many people. Horribly wounded. They’ll never be the same. Muslims have to report the problems when they see them.

And, you know, there’s always a reason for everything. If they don’t do that, it’s a very difficult situation for our country, because you look at Orlando and you look at San Bernardino and you look at the World Trade Center. Go outside. Look at Paris. Look at that horrible—these are radical Islamic terrorists.

And she won’t even mention the word and nor will President Obama. He won’t use the term “radical Islamic terrorism.” Now, to solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is or at least say the name. She won’t say the name and President Obama won’t say the name. But the name is there. It’s radical Islamic terror. And before you solve it, you have to say the name.

RADDATZ: Secretary Clinton?

CLINTON: Well, thank you for asking your question. And I’ve heard this question from a lot of Muslim-Americans across our country, because, unfortunately, there’s been a lot of very divisive, dark things said about Muslims. And even someone like Captain Khan, the young man who sacrificed himself defending our country in the United States Army, has been subject to attack by Donald.

I want to say just a couple of things. First, we’ve had Muslims in America since George Washington. And we’ve had many successful Muslims. We just lost a particular well-known one with Muhammad Ali.

My vision of America is an America where everyone has a place, if you’re willing to work hard, you do your part, you contribute to the community. That’s what America is. That’s what we want America to be for our children and our grandchildren.

It’s also very short-sighted and even dangerous to be engaging in the kind of demagogic rhetoric that Donald has about Muslims. We need American Muslims to be part of our eyes and ears on our front lines. I’ve worked with a lot of different Muslim groups around America. I’ve met with a lot of them, and I’ve heard how important it is for them to feel that they are wanted and included and part of our country, part of our homeland security, and that’s what I want to see.

It’s also important I intend to defeat ISIS, to do so in a coalition with majority Muslim nations. Right now, a lot of those nations are hearing what Donald says and wondering, why should we cooperate with the Americans? And this is a gift to ISIS and the terrorists, violent jihadist terrorists.

We are not at war with Islam. And it is a mistake and it plays into the hands of the terrorists to act as though we are. So I want a country where citizens like you and your family are just as welcome as anyone else.

RADDATZ: Thank you, Secretary Clinton.

Mr. Trump, in December, you said this: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. We have no choice. We have no choice.” Your running mate said this week that the Muslim ban is no longer your position. Is that correct? And if it is, was it a mistake to have a religious test?

TRUMP: First of all, Captain Khan is an American hero, and if I were president at that time, he would be alive today, because unlike her, who voted for the war without knowing what she was doing, I would not have had our people in Iraq. Iraq was disaster. So he would have been alive today.

The Muslim ban is something that in some form has morphed into a extreme vetting from certain areas of the world. Hillary Clinton wants to allow hundreds of thousands—excuse me. Excuse me..

[...]

RADDATZ: Would you please explain whether or not the Muslim ban still stands?

TRUMP: It’s called extreme vetting. We are going to areas like Syria where they’re coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama. And Hillary Clinton wants to allow a 550 percent increase over Obama. People are coming into our country like we have no idea who they are, where they are from, what their feelings about our country is, and she wants 550 percent more. This is going to be the great Trojan horse of all time.

We have enough problems in this country. I believe in building safe zones. I believe in having other people pay for them, as an example, the Gulf states, who are not carrying their weight, but they have nothing but money, and take care of people. But I don’t want to have, with all the problems this country has and all of the problems that you see going on, hundreds of thousands of people coming in from Syria when we know nothing about them. We know nothing about their values and we know nothing about their love for our country.

RADDATZ: And, Secretary Clinton, let me ask you about that, because you have asked for an increase from 10,000 to 65,000 Syrian refugees. We know you want tougher vetting. That’s not a perfect system. So why take the risk of having those refugees come into the country?

CLINTON: Well, first of all, I will not let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us. But there are a lot of refugees, women and children—think of that picture we all saw of that 4-year-old boy with the blood on his forehead because he’d been bombed by the Russian and Syrian air forces.

There are children suffering in this catastrophic war, largely, I believe, because of Russian aggression. And we need to do our part. We by no means are carrying anywhere near the load that Europe and others are. But we will have vetting that is as tough as it needs to be from our professionals, our intelligence experts and others.

But it is important for us as a policy, you know, not to say, as Donald has said, we’re going to ban people based on a religion. How do you do that? We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty. How do we do what he has advocated without causing great distress within our own county? Are we going to have religious tests when people fly into our country? And how do we expect to be able to implement those?

So I thought that what he said was extremely unwise and even dangerous. And indeed, you can look at the propaganda on a lot of the terrorists sites, and what Donald Trump says about Muslims is used to recruit fighters, because they want to create a war between us.

Russia

CLINTON: But, you know, let’s talk about what’s really going on here, Martha, because our intelligence community just came out and said in the last few days that the Kremlin, meaning Putin and the Russian government, are directing the attacks, the hacking on American accounts to influence our election. And WikiLeaks is part of that, as are other sites where the Russians hack information, we don’t even know if it’s accurate information, and then they put it out.

We have never in the history of our country been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election. And believe me, they’re not doing it to get me elected. They’re doing it to try to influence the election for Donald Trump.

Now, maybe because he has praised Putin, maybe because he says he agrees with a lot of what Putin wants to do, maybe because he wants to do business in Moscow, I don’t know the reasons. But we deserve answers. And we should demand that Donald release all of his tax returns so that people can see what are the entanglements and the financial relationships that he has...

[...]

TRUMP: I don’t know Putin. I think it would be great if we got along with Russia because we could fight ISIS together, as an example. But I don’t know Putin.

But I notice, anytime anything wrong happens, they like to say the Russians are—she doesn’t know if it’s the Russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is no hacking. But they always blame Russia. And the reason they blame Russia because they think they’re trying to tarnish me with Russia. I know nothing about Russia. I know—I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia. I don’t deal there. I have no businesses there. I have no loans from Russia.

Syria and Iraq

CLINTON: Well, the situation in Syria is catastrophic. And every day that goes by, we see the results of the regime by Assad in partnership with the Iranians on the ground, the Russians in the air, bombarding places, in particular Aleppo, where there are hundreds of thousands of people, probably about 250,000 still left. And there is a determined effort by the Russian air force to destroy Aleppo in order to eliminate the last of the Syrian rebels who are really holding out against the Assad regime.

Russia hasn’t paid any attention to ISIS. They’re interested in keeping Assad in power. So I, when I was secretary of state, advocated and I advocate today a no-fly zone and safe zones. We need some leverage with the Russians, because they are not going to come to the negotiating table for a diplomatic resolution, unless there is some leverage over them. And we have to work more closely with our partners and allies on the ground.

But I want to emphasize that what is at stake here is the ambitions and the aggressiveness of Russia. Russia has decided that it’s all in, in Syria. And they’ve also decided who they want to see become president of the United States, too, and it’s not me. I’ve stood up to Russia. I’ve taken on Putin and others, and I would do that as president.

I think wherever we can cooperate with Russia, that’s fine. And I did as secretary of state. That’s how we got a treaty reducing nuclear weapons. It’s how we got the sanctions on Iran that put a lid on the Iranian nuclear program without firing a single shot. So I would go to the negotiating table with more leverage than we have now. But I do support the effort to investigate for crimes, war crimes committed by the Syrians and the Russians and try to hold them accountable.

[...]

TRUMP: Now, with that being said, she talks tough against Russia. But our nuclear program has fallen way behind, and they’ve gone wild with their nuclear program. Not good. Our government shouldn’t have allowed that to happen. Russia is new in terms of nuclear. We are old. We’re tired. We’re exhausted in terms of nuclear. A very bad thing.

Now, she talks tough, she talks really tough against Putin and against Assad. She talks in favor of the rebels. She doesn’t even know who the rebels are. You know, every time we take rebels, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else, we’re arming people. And you know what happens? They end up being worse than the people.

Look at what she did in Libya with Gadhafi. Gadhafi’s out. It’s a mess. And, by the way, ISIS has a good chunk of their oil. I’m sure you probably have heard that. It was a disaster. Because the fact is, almost everything she’s done in foreign policy has been a mistake and it’s been a disaster.

But if you look at Russia, just take a look at Russia, and look at what they did this week, where I agree, she wasn’t there, but possibly she’s consulted. We sign a peace treaty. Everyone’s all excited. Well, what Russia did with Assad and, by the way, with Iran, who you made very powerful with the dumbest deal perhaps I’ve ever seen in the history of deal-making, the Iran deal, with the $150 billion, with the $1.7 billion in cash, which is enough to fill up this room.

But look at that deal. Iran now and Russia are now against us. So she wants to fight. She wants to fight for rebels. There’s only one problem. You don’t even know who the rebels are. So what’s the purpose?

[...]

TRUMP: I don’t like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS. And Iran is killing ISIS. And those three have now lined up because of our weak foreign policy.

RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, let me repeat the question. If you were president ... what would you do about Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo? And I want to remind you what your running mate said. He said provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength and that if Russia continues to be involved in air strikes along with the Syrian government forces of Assad, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike the military targets of the Assad regime.

TRUMP: OK. He and I haven’t spoken, and I disagree. I disagree.

RADDATZ: You disagree with your running mate?

TRUMP: I think you have to knock out ISIS. Right now, Syria is fighting ISIS. We have people that want to fight both at the same time. But Syria is no longer Syria. Syria is Russia and it’s Iran, who she made strong and Kerry and Obama made into a very powerful nation and a very rich nation, very, very quickly, very, very quickly.

I believe we have to get ISIS. We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved. She had a chance to do something with Syria. They had a chance. And that was the line. And she didn’t.

RADDATZ: What do you think will happen if Aleppo falls?

TRUMP: I think Aleppo is a disaster, humanitarian-wise.

RADDATZ: What do you think will happen if it falls?

TRUMP: I think that it basically has fallen. OK? It basically has fallen. Let me tell you something. You take a look at Mosul. The biggest problem I have with the stupidity of our foreign policy, we have Mosul. They think a lot of the ISIS leaders are in Mosul. So we have announcements coming out of Washington and coming out of Iraq, we will be attacking Mosul in three weeks or four weeks.

Well, all of these bad leaders from ISIS are leaving Mosul. Why can’t they do it quietly? Why can’t they do the attack, make it a sneak attack, and after the attack is made, inform the American public that we’ve knocked out the leaders, we’ve had a tremendous success? People leave. Why do they have to say we’re going to be attacking Mosul within the next four to six weeks, which is what they’re saying? How stupid is our country?

RADDATZ: There are sometimes reasons the military does that. Psychological warfare.

TRUMP: I can’t think of any. I can’t think of any. And I’m pretty good at it.

RADDATZ: It might be to help get civilians out.

TRUMP: And we have General Flynn. And we have—look, I have 200 generals and admirals who endorsed me. I have 21 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients who endorsed me. We talk about it all the time. They understand, why can’t they do something secretively, where they go in and they knock out the leadership? How—why would these people stay there? I’ve been reading now...

RADDATZ: Tell me what your strategy is.

TRUMP: ... for weeks—I’ve been reading now for weeks about Mosul, that it’s the harbor of where—you know, between Raqqa and Mosul, this is where they think the ISIS leaders are. Why would they be saying—they’re not staying there anymore. They’re gone. Because everybody’s talking about how Iraq, which is us with our leadership, goes in to fight Mosul.

Now, with these 200 admirals and generals, they can’t believe it. All I say is this. General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur are spinning in their grave at the stupidity of what we’re doing in the Middle East.

RADDATZ: I’m going to go to Secretary Clinton. Secretary Clinton, you want Assad to go. You advocated arming rebels, but it looks like that may be too late for Aleppo. You talk about diplomatic efforts. Those have failed. Cease-fires have failed. Would you introduce the threat of U.S. military force beyond a no-fly zone against the Assad regime to back up diplomacy?

CLINTON: I would not use American ground forces in Syria. I think that would be a very serious mistake. I don’t think American troops should be holding territory, which is what they would have to do as an occupying force. I don’t think that is a smart strategy.

I do think the use of special forces, which we’re using, the use of enablers and trainers in Iraq, which has had some positive effects, are very much in our interests, and so I do support what is happening, but let me just...

RADDATZ: But what would you do differently than President Obama is doing?

[...]

CLINTON: I hope by the time I am president that we will have pushed ISIS out of Iraq. I do think that there is a good chance that we can take Mosul. And, you know, Donald says he knows more about ISIS than the generals. No, he doesn’t.

There are a lot of very important planning going on, and some of it is to signal to the Sunnis in the area, as well as Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, that we all need to be in this. And that takes a lot of planning and preparation.

I would go after Baghdadi. I would specifically target Baghdadi, because I think our targeting of Al Qaida leaders—and I was involved in a lot of those operations, highly classified ones—made a difference. So I think that could help.

I would also consider arming the Kurds. The Kurds have been our best partners in Syria, as well as Iraq. And I know there’s a lot of concern about that in some circles, but I think they should have the equipment they need so that Kurdish and Arab fighters on the ground are the principal way that we take Raqqa after pushing ISIS out of Iraq.

Trump knew he had a daunting hurdle to overcome and he cleared it

There was a moment during the 2000 town-hall debate when Al Gore apparently decided he’d had enough of George W. Bush. Gore stood up and loped over to the Texas governor until the two were standing only a couple inches apart. Bush, in the middle of an answer, gave Gore a jocular nod, the audience chuckled with laughter, and the nation was left wondering whether it had almost witnessed presidential fisticuffs.

Until last night, Gore’s Frankenstein lunge was the gold standard of controversy for the town-hall forum, where audiences of undecided voters keep even the most pugnacious presidential candidates on their best-ish behavior. So what in the world are we to make of Donald Trump’s performance? You needed a cigarette by the time it was over. The billionaire mogul was engrossingly and at times uncomfortably aggressive, unleashing every fury he had against Hillary Clinton in retaliation for a week that’s been rough even by his recent standards.

Trump knew he had a daunting hurdle to overcome in the recently released video that showed him making abhorrent and lascivious comments about women back in 2005. And he cleared it, both because Clinton is a weak prosecutor and because he squashed the issue in a bum-rush against her illegal email server. Among many firsts achieved last night was Trump’s promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate his adversary, and when Clinton lassoed her own ankles by warning about President Trump in “charge of the law in our country,” the billionaire yanked as strongly as he could: “Because you’d be in jail.” Cue a disclaimer from pollster Frank Luntz that his focus group wasfar more concerned with the emails than Trump’s scandal—public corruption > private boorishness.

Trump says he 'knows nothing about Russia' and hacksNew York Daily NewsThe “thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process,” National Intelligence director James R. Clapper Jr. said in a statement. “We have never in the history of our country been in a situation where an adversary is ...and more »

America confronts Russia for trying to hack Presidential electionCosumnes Connection (subscription)"These thefts and disclosures are meant to interfere with the US election process". Sign up to our daily newsletter for up to date global news and features. In the statement accusing the Russian government of the hacking campaign, James R. Clapper Jr.

A United States federal contractor, who remains in detention following his arrest last summer for stealing classified documents, may have worked for an elite cyber espionage unit of the National Security Agency.

FBI: Violent crime on the rise in smaller areas of countyPort Huron Times HeraldReports of violent crime increased in some smaller pockets of St. Clair County, according to recent FBI crime data. Most crime occurs in more populated areas, like Port Huron, and smaller-town crime numbers show a slight increase in violent crime for ...and more »

US stocks gain on Clinton debate perception, oil surgesReutersInvestors see a Democratic Clinton administration as more predictable than one led by Trump, who has provided less detail about his plans and raised fears of market volatility around his candidacy, Meckler said. The Mexican peso, the largest emerging ...and more »

Late last week, Vladimir Putin went all-in and executed the brazen geopolitical move of transporting nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea north of Poland that’s surrounded by NATO countries.

As I told you on Friday, the Kremlin’s deployment of Iskander missiles, what NATO calls SS-26s, into Kaliningrad is a direct challenge to the Atlantic Alliance, since it puts all of Poland and the Baltic republics into range for a sudden nuclear strike. An Iskander’s flight time from Kaliningrad to Warsaw is just two minutes, so NATO would functionally have no warning.

In military terms, this is a game-changer for the Baltic region. Politically, it’s deeply destabilizing too. It’s nothing less than a regional version of the Cuban Missile Crisis, with Moscow placing nuclear missiles close to the Western camp for strategic advantage. Why Putin would do this when Obama has just three months left in the White House is the key question—and answering it reveals disturbing truths. As I said on Friday:

This constitutes a direct challenge to Washington by Moscow—and by Vladimir Putin to Barack Obama, personally. The KGB officer in the Kremlin is seeking to get in one last, grand strategic humiliation for our president before he leaves office. And why not? Such reckless antics have worked well for the Russians so far, given Obama’s preference to avert eyes and hope for the best whenever Moscow misbehaves.

The Kremlin’s no longer hiding its actions, even when they are profoundly destabilizing to European security. Knowing that President Obama will do nothing, Moscow is now openly boasting of its Iskander gambit. Stating the move is “no secret” and just part of military drills, Kremlin media isn’t shying away from the story.

Oct. 7 -- Democrat Hillary Clinton has at least one big advantage over her opponent Republican Donald Trump in the town hall presidential debate October 9th at Washington University in St. Louis. Bloomberg QuickTake looks at what it is and how both Clinton and Trump are preparing for the face off.